I just realised that you can make an alias of the Network icon and drag it to the desktop to get easy access to network servers and things. To create the alias, drag it while holding down option and command (Make Alias will be greyed out in the menu). Then if you do a Get Info (command-I) on the original network icon, you can copy and paste it onto the alias to give it the same look as the original. I now have a network icon on my desktop which gives me much faster access to my network.

The same general process can be used to put an alias of your Home folder on the desktop. Remember to use command-option drag to create the alias...